


Revenge of the Unknown

by AmBecca



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Bittersweet, Death, Depression, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gore, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:33:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29643072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmBecca/pseuds/AmBecca
Summary: Ria Dust is one of the many children who live in the Shiganshina district. When told by her mother to go buy some bread, in order to surprise Ria' father as he finally comes home, she thinks of the day as just a normal one.Her world is turned upside down as her district is attacked by two strange Titan'. Both her parents are killed in by the second Titan, a scene that Ria is forced to watch unfold. She takes on Eren' ideals - specifically, she wants to kill the Armored Titan. Follow her story as she grows alongside Eren, Armin, Mikasa, and the rest of the cadets.





	Revenge of the Unknown

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! I recently played Attack on Titan 2 : Final Battle - and the ending made me cry. So to mend my broken heart, I'm going to rewrite it the way that I desperately wanted it to end/continue.
> 
> Feel free to leave advice or thoughts on my writing! I hope y'all enjoy this. <3

The Fall of Maria.

She isn't supposed to be out long, as her trips outside of her home are usually short. Ria is near the inner gate of Shiganshina, leading into the land behind Wall Maria. There is a shop close by that sells loaves of bread that her mother practically enjoys; and since she is busy tidying up the house before Ria’ father returns, the duty falls upon the only child.

On the way to the shop, she spots a trio of children her age; a group that everyone knows about. Armin, who is followed closely by Eren and Mikasa. Ria waits a moment, to see if she’s able to catch their attention. For the most part, it works. Eren catches sight of the short female first. He waves both of his arms frantically in the air, drawing the attention of his two friends. A handful of adults also turn their attention to the unsuspecting child. Ria, not used to having more than two pairs of eyes on her, shyly waves back. She ducks away, desperate to just arrive at the shop.

After what seems like ages, she steps into the bakery. Ria buys the usual three medium sized loaves, adding a small loaf in at the last moment. This is meant to be a gift, for her friends. She barely takes a step out of the shop when an eerie silence settles over the town. It’s strangely bright, with flocks of birds flying away from the outer wall of Shiganshina. Ria can’t even begin to describe the sound that travels from past the wall, frozen to the spot as a pair of giant hands rise up from behind the wall. They lower down, as if gripping the top. Chaos suddenly erupts as there’s a loud roar, and chunks of what seems to be the outer wall go flying in every single direction. A piece lands close to Ria’ feet, and the shock wave from the impact knocks her off her feet.

When her eyes finally reopen, she almost can’t recognize the sky above her. It’s darker now, with what seems like dozens of smoke plumes stretching up into the air. There’s a warmth trickling from the back of her head, but she ignores it as she tries to stand to her feet. Ria is annoyingly dizzy, and she can’t find the loaves she just bought, no matter how much she searches.

The thought quickly flees her mind as familiar voices cry out her name, and Ria squints past the surrounding hell as she tries to find the source. There, in the distance. She can barely make out her parents silhouettes against the smoke. “Mother, father!” She manages to croak out, coughing loudly as she begins to stumble in their direction. They all come to a halt as another loud noise echoes out, this one sounding much closer. Gazes turn to the inner gate as yet another Titan barrels through the stone wall, sending more debris flying upwards. Ria stands there in awe, watching the trail of a specific piece.

“Wait,” she hoarsely whispers, taking a step forward. “That one is getting too close!” The bone chilling screams of her parents as they shriek at Ria to run away spur her into action. Despite their pleas, she’s trying to run to them. She’s close, close enough that she can swear she can see their tears. With her right hand outstretched, she reaches out to them.

Instead of meeting flesh, her hand meets stone. Cradling her nearly broken hand with her left one, it takes Ria a moment to take in the scene. She can see someones twitching hand from underneath the mass of the wall, and she can’t even tell if it belongs to her mother or father. Ria flings herself against the object, screeching and clawing at the debris in a pathetic attempt to lift it off the bodies of her parents. She only stops when her fingertips leave a bloody trail against the jagged body of the stone, and blood spews from her throat as she continues to scream.

Defeated, the child frantically searches around. Among the masses of humans running away, there are also the distant and lumbering bodies of different sized Titans. Truthfully, Ria thinks her life ends will end within moments.

By some miracle, Hannes, who is clutching two familiar bodies, comes into her line of sight. They’re each tucked under either one of his arms, with only Eren kicking and screaming as the scout comes to a sudden halt in front of Ria. He doesn’t even look at the rock as he squats down, nodding his head at the girl. She wastes no time, climbing onto his back as he takes off again. She can’t see very well, but she can only assume that they’re being taken to the boats just past the gate that leads into the interior of Wall Maria.

Ria keeps her hurt hand curled against her chest, the other hand moving forward to secure a loose hold around Hannes’ neck. This way, she won’t fall off of him. Her sobs have quieted down into muted cries, tears streaming down her dirty cheeks to leave fresh trails. They fall onto the scouts leather jacket, but she says nothing about it.

They finally arrive at the docks, almost immediately being swarmed by hordes of terrified townsfolk. Everyone is pushing and shoving, and there are screams as some people are falling into the rivers. Hannes stops at the back of the crowd, carefully setting down Eren and Mikasa first. They’re both standing upright, heads tilted downwards as the boys shoulders tremble in quiet cries.

Hannes helps Ria off of his back, finally noticing her bruised hand. “Ria!” He half whispers - half shouts over all the surrounding noise. She quickly shakes her head, trying to hide her hand away. In all the commotion, she hadn’t even realized how bad her hand really looked.

There is no time to fuss, because Hannes suddenly squats down in front of the three children. “Look, we have to go now. Armin is waiting on a boat for us. We have to leave now before things get even worse. Ria, we’ll get your hand looked at after we land. You three hold hands, and no matter what happens; do not let go of each other.”

Hannes reaches for Mikasa’ hand, who grabs onto Eren’, who then grabs Ria’ good hand. The scout starts to shove through the squirming crowd, dragging the fearful children close behind him. Ria stumbles over someone's foot, barely regaining her balance before Eren yanks her onward. After what seems like hours, but in reality is only a few minutes, the four of them finally board one of the boats. It takes off almost immediately, leaving behind the masses of shrieking people.

Her attention is pulled away as Armin suddenly appears in her view, blocking the horrific sight of townsfolk, many of whose faces she knows, as they push and try to climb over one another. Seeing Armin’ face, his delicate features twisted in fear and relief, it cracks the girl. She falls to her knees, both hands pressing against her face in an effort to stop the strangled screams from leaving her mouth. Multiple arms wrap around her body, pulling her into the warmth of her friends. The four of the children share cries and tears, taking turns to comfort one another as they try to go over the day's events. Eren’ mother was eaten in front of him and Mikasa, and his father is presumed dead. Ria’ parents were both crushed under a chunk of wall that the second Titan sent out. Only Armin’ grandfather is okay, who actually went on ahead on one of the first boats.

“Ria,” Armin’ gentle voice begins, “What happened to your hand? Is it broken?” The girl looks down at the mentioned hand, turning it over and inspecting the limb. “Oh ... I was reaching out to my parents as the rock was falling. So instead of meeting their hands, I accidentally punched it instead. I don’t think it’s broken, but it does hurt.” Her other hand raises up, making Hannes audibly hiss as he moves closer to check her fingertips. They’ve all been rubbed raw, bits of flesh missing as blood trickles from them.

Ria yanks her hands away, stuffing them into the pockets of her trousers. They can’t do anything about the bleeding, nor the pulsating ache that seems to only grow more intense after every moment. The friends nestle into a corner of the slow moving ship, with Hannes hovering protectively nearby.

Time passes at an unknown pace, as Ria spends most of her time in a daze. The events that have taken place keep distracting her from her surroundings, forcing her to relive the moments that she desperately doesn’t want to think about. Her tired eyes try to soak in the evening sky, watching the sun as it slowly lowers past Wall Maria.

As Ria turns back to face Wall Rose, she spots Eren; who is standing up at the boat's edge, not far from her. She doesn’t have to move closer to be able to see his features with an indescribable hatred. As his bright green eyes travel along the calm waters edge and towards their fallen home, her gaze eventually meets his.

His expression changes into worry, and he rushes to Ria’ side. “Ria! I didn’t know you were awake. Are you okay? Your hands feel any better?” She shakes her head, trying to stuff them further into her pockets. Truthfully, they hurt even more than before. She is quick to add, “They still hurt, but I can wait until we meet land and get to camp.”

They were told by Hannes that the Survey Corps are busy setting up large camps, for all the townsfolk from Shiganshina to stay until things can be sorted out. Eren grabs onto Ria’ left elbow, helping her to her feet so they can approach the side of the boat together. The other passengers on the boat have started whispering to one another as the sight of Wall Rose appears in their view, taking in the unfamiliar sight.

As they approach the docks, everyone lines up in preparation to disembark. The kids are huddled in front Hannes, and he stays with them as they step off the boat. Ria lets out a sigh of relief as they reach solid ground, finding herself hoping that she never needs to ride a boat again.

Hannes leaves their side for a moment, talking to a pair of doctors. He points to the group of friends, and the two doctors nod their heads. The scout motions them over, trying to be sneaky as he hands off something to the closest doctor. He probably bribed them so they can actually keep an eye on the kids. Not that Ria is whining about it, she finds it to be rather sweet of him.

Armin is the first one to bow, with the other three hesitantly bowing soon after. The one that accepted something from Hannes steps closer, placing a hand on Armin’ head. “Hey, kiddos. I bet you guys have seen some pretty nasty things.” He pulls away, pointing to a building that the townsfolk are walking into. “After I check your friends hands, she can meet you guys there. When you walk in, take a left and find the closest nurse, tell her that Jack sent you; and to make room for Ria here.”

Before the kids can even begin to move, Hannes motions for them to pay attention to him. “Listen, these guys will keep an eye on you four. I have to go back now, so make sure you guys take care of each other. I’ll be back soon, so no fighting while I’m gone.” Ria suddenly steps up to Hannes, taking her right hand out of her trouser pocket and gripping the scouts jacket sleeve. He turns to look at her, eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Hannes, do you promise that you’ll come back?” His gaze softens, gently pulling her hand off of him. He pats each of the four heads, then begins to jog away. “I promise!” He shouts, then disappears into the crowd of people.That’s when her hands are noticed. Doctor Jack snatches her hand and yanks her forward, causing her to almost tumble. Somehow, she finds her footing as her other hand is pulled out of its hiding place, and he carefully goes over each hand.

Ria glances back at her friends, almost frightened as they are ushered away and towards the building, presumably to find a space to rest. “Make sure that you don’t scream, okay kiddo?” The first doctor says as the other one turns around to fetch a bottle from a nearby wooden table.

“W-What do you mean?” The girl squeaks out, starting to tug away from the doctor. Neither of them say anything as the first doctor clamps his hands around Ria’ wrists, holding her still as the second doctor pops open the bottle. As he pours the liquid, both the searing pain on her fingers and the disgusting smell of alcohol that fills her lungs, tell her what's going on. They’re tending to her wounds.

Ria does as instructed, biting down on her inner cheek to keep the screams from escaping her throat. After a moment, she lets go of the breath that she had been holding onto. The two doctors work on either hand, working swiftly and quite accurately. They are taking a bit longer, because they had decided to do each finger individually, so the girl can actually use her hands.

Ria isn’t sure how much time has passed, but perhaps it was enough time that her friends were starting to worry. They all return to where Ria is almost finished, each one of them carrying a thin pillow and blanket, with Armin actually carrying two sets. Nobody speaks as the girl manages to weakly smile, but soon drops it. She’s tired, both physically and emotionally.

“There we go!” The first doctor nearly shouts, making Ria jump. He shoves three rolls of bandages into Ria’ handSs, forcing her to curl her fingers around them; despite the hiss of pain that comes from her. Mikasa steps forward, taking the rolls in one hand and grabbing her friend's elbow with her other hand. They all bow and give thanks, then scurry off before the doctors can say anything else.

“What are you guys doing?” Squeaks out Ria, who has to keep her head down to watch where she’s stepping. Armin is the one who speaks up, “You were taking too long, and there’s not enough spots for all of us to stay together. So we were told we can sleep outside.” A little upset about this, Ria decides to speak up. Mikasa interrupts her by saying, “Don’t worry about it, Ria. Hannes said to stick together, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Plus, sleeping outside isn’t so bad. It’ll be like we’re camping outside.”

With no more complaints, the four friends find a place to rest. Near a tree, away from the temporary camp, the children finally set down their blankets to lay down. Ria falls asleep first, absolutely drained from the day.

‘Dad?!’

The confused voice of Eren jolts Ria out of her sleep, frozen as she tries to recognize her surroundings. It takes a moment, but everything rushes back to her. She shrugs the cold feeling crawling over her body, blaming a bad dream on waking her up. She lays her head back onto the pillow, staring up at the starry sky above. Directly above is pitch black, as the stars are blocked out from the foliage of the tree that they chose to sleep under.

The girl rolls over onto her left side, away from her friends and in the direction of the waterways, where they all arrived. The nearby building has only a handful of candles on, resting on windowsills and casting very little light outside.

Ria tenses up as she hears a rushing pair of footsteps from somewhere behind her. She pulls her knees to her chest, using the long length of her black hair to cover the entirety of her face as her eyes squeeze shut. The footsteps come to an abrupt stop, followed by a thud. The footsteps retreat back in the direction they came, leaving behind a trembling Ria.

She waits for a few moments, laying as still as possible as she tries to strain her ears for any possible noises. Other than the gentle slap of water against stone at the river, or the sound of leaves rustling in the cool air, there is nothing else. Slowly, Ria turns back around. Armin and Mikasa are both curled up on top of their blankets, with Eren being the only one sprawled out face down.

Shaking her head, she quietly talks herself down from her frightened state. Eren must have gone up and used a bush to relieve himself. It’s okay, and perfectly normal.

Then what about the footsteps that ran away, after that thud?

Ria quickly shakes her head in disagreement. No way. She was hearing things. After all, it had been a crazy day. If she goes back to sleep, then she can sleep everything off. Yeah. Just sleep.

But she doesn’t sleep, not after all that. By the time the other three are stirring awake, Ria is already sitting upright on her blanket, clutching the flimsy pillow to her chest. There are bloodied bandages at her feet, a sign that she had already changed the dressings around her fingers.

“You guys are awake. How are you feeling?” Mikasa and Armin both mention that despite everything, they feel okay. Eren doesn’t answer right away, seeming confused about something. Mikasa walks over to the boy, squatting in front of him as she calls out his name. “Eren, what’s wrong?”

He blinks several times, glancing up at the three worried friends. Ria can tell that something is bothering him, but whatever it is, he won’t say what it is. He shrugs them off, explaining that he’s just hungry. They all agree with him, and after gathering their blankets and pillows, begin to walk in the direction of the building.

It’s busier now, with small groups of people moving around. Thankfully, they can actually see Hannes talking with some other scouts. They rush over to quickly greet the other scouts, then crowd around Hannes. He tries to get them to calm down and to speak one at a time, since they’re talking over each other. When they don’t, Hannes shoots a glare at the other scouts as they leave him to tend to the children on his own, all while laughing.

Ria eventually quiets down, tugging on the sleeves of Mikasa and Eren. They follow her lead, leaving Armin to ask the questions. Hannes rubs his forehead with his right hand, letting out a sigh before starting his spiel. “So, we can’t go back to the district, or Wall Maria for that matter. Both sides of the wall have been breached, and Titans are now free to roam there. From now on, you four will live here in the Trost district, working as farm hands to try and help the food supply to not run out. You won’t be the only ones doing this, so try not to worry. All the refugees will eventually be moved to farms scattered across Trost, starting today.”

The four of them fall silent, soaking in this new information. Ria seems to be taking it the hardest, as she’s the one to speak up first. “Hannes, does this mean you can’t visit us?” The scout looks almost ... sad at her inquiry, but he merely shrugs his shoulders. “I might be able to, but I might not be able to. I think I’m going to be busy for awhile now. Try not to worry your head off, Dust. You have your friends, and like I said, all of you guys can stay together. With the four of you combined, there isn’t anything you can’t get done. You will get through this.”

Hannes’ attention is pulled away as another scout jogs up to him, nodding his head at the four of the kids as the pair walk off. They’re left stunned, standing there as they slowly turn to one another. The doctor from the night before suddenly pops up in front of Ria, who jumps backwards and half hides behind Eren. “Ria!” The doctor exclaims, oblivious to the fact that he scares the girl.

“I have requested that you four come to help at the farms in my village, and that request has been accepted. We leave in an hour. About twenty meters past the docks, there will be two horses and a wagon. I expect the lot of you to be there when we leave.” As quickly as the man appears, he is gone.

Eren is the first one who moves, with Mikasa quickly following the boy. Armin takes several steps after them, but pauses as he turns around to face Ria. He waves her closer, tilting his head in the direction of where they’re supposed to go.

“Come on, Ria. We should probably see if the scouts have any rations for us, and head past the boats.” She nods, accepting that nothing good will come from not listening. She moves into a steady jog, easily catching up to her three friends.

They’re quiet, but at least they still have each other, and they aren’t hurt. Well, aside from Ria’ hands.

Thus, begins the unstable world that has become their lives.


End file.
